Hollow Man (2000)

Hollow Man has always held a special little place in my cold, dark heart.  Contrary to what you may think, I have actually been to a drive-in theater.  Growing up in Upstate New York, there were actually several to choose from.   The Hollywood Drive-In was a favorite, and when I was a teenager, we saw a double feature of The Cell and Hollow Man.  Jennifer Lopez nonwithstanding, The Cell scared the life out of me (mental note to review it sometime) and I really enjoyed Hollow Man.  When I spotted it on Netflix instant recently, I figured it was time for a rewatch.

I forgot about all the animal testing, caging, and general abuse in this movie and that makes me a little sad from the get-go.  When watching horror movies, I typically care about animals more than humans.  Does that say something about me as a person?  I also forgot how many random people are in this movie.  There's Kevin Bacon of course, but also my favorite babysitter Elisabeth Shue, Josh Brolin, Joey "Merrill Bobbit" Slotnick, and Kim Dickens.

So the plot of Hollow Man is that the government has tasked some scientists with making a human disappear and reappear.  I don't understand how this would help our country in any way, but whatevs.  After various success with gorillas, the main scientist, Sebastian (Kevin Bacon) volunteers to be the first human subject.  Of course something has to go wrong and he is stuck in the invisible form.  Annoyed at first, he decides to leave the lab and have some "fun."  (P.S. Kit from Nip/Tuck is in this too, showing off her goodies -- was this movie central casting for that show?)

Much like the primates before him, the serum makes Sebastian a little cuckoo for cocoa puffs.  In addition to traipsing around the city at night attacking single women, he begins to turn on his former co-workers.  The action during the last 45 minutes or so starts to drag a bit and gets a little Die Hard with the elevator shafts and whatnot. 

The effects in this movie are pretty badass.  The disappearing and going back to real form are detailed and freaky.  Apparently a seriously realistic model of Kevin Bacon was created for this flick and was donated to science since it was so awesome.  Funnily enough, this movie has the same director as Showgirls, my most favorite guilty pleasure movie.  This flick has held up pretty well over the last decade, and I'm glad to see it available on Netflix instant.